While both UFC and WEC officials have consistently denied any and all reports of a potential merger between the two organizations, there is one undeniable challenge created by the dual fight promotions.

How do you manage two separate 155-pound divisions?

UFC president Dana White recently said that the promotions will likely one day merge the two divisions into the UFC, but for now, he’s got another idea for his top WEC lightweights: send them to Japan.

“What I need to do is send them somewhere else so they can become ranked No. 2 and then bring them back,” White joked with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “That’s what I really need to do.”

White made the comment in regards to his WEC lightweight champion Ben Henderson, who in the co-main event of this past weekend’s “WEC 48: Aldo vs. Faber” event choked out top challenger Donald Cerrone in just under two minutes. It was a shocking result, especially considering how tightly contested the pair’s first meeting was for all 25 minutes of the October 2009 affair.

“I was expecting a war in that fight,” White said. “I thought that was going to be a back-and-forth battle. I thought it was going to be a really tough fight for Henderson. He made it look easy. He put a knot on [Cerrone’s] head and choked him out.”

It was the fifth-straight WEC win for Henderson – and his 11th-consecutive victory, overall. But with the majority of the world’s top-10 lightweight fighters in the world residing in the UFC’s 155-pound division, many MMA observers are now questioning where to rank Henderson.

In a clear reference to Gilbert Melendez’s recent Strikeforce destruction of the formerly top-ranked DREAM champion Shinya Aoki, White told a small group of reporters if “Smooth” was competing Japan, there would be no question as to his greatness.

“When I look at the rankings of many of you in here, it drives me [expletive] nuts,” White said. “Henderson, because he’s in the WEC, and we own the WEC, where’s he ranked right now with most of you guys? But if he was in [expletive] Japan or some other place, you guys would have him ranked No. 2. It drives me crazy.”

Of course, some might argue that White is helping to create that rankings bias. With two separate lightweight divisions – not to mention an unwillingness to co-promote – it’s almost natural to brand the WEC’s lightweight division as second-tier.

White understands the criticism, and while you certainly shouldn’t ever expect the world’s most powerful mixed martial arts organization to warm to the idea of co-promotion, the exec says the dual divisions will fade away when the time is right.

“I look at this whole thing as a work in progress,” White said. “You guys have to remember that this sport is still so young. We have a lot of plans, and we’re working on a lot of things.

“I can’t tell you guys everything, but just like we did at 170 (pounds), 170 used to be [in the WEC], and we moved that up into the UFC. We’re taking our time. We’re doing what we think is the right thing to do at the right time.”

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